2 Firms Agree to Buy CalPERS Properties

Regency Centers Corp. and Macquarie CountryWide Trust agreed to buy 101 retail centers from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for about $2.74 billion.

The venture will be 65% owned by Macquarie, a real estate investment trust that owns shopping malls in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., and 35% owned by Regency, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based owner and developer of shopping centers anchored by grocery stores.

The retail centers are located in 17 states and Washington, D.C. The purchase will give Regency and Macquarie their first properties in the suburbs of New York and Minneapolis and lift holdings in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington.